For me seeing is an active act, a conscious decision to observe the world especially its more subtle and nuanced offerings.

Looking is what most people in the world do. They look at things but they do not see them. It is all just visual noise and if it doesn’t relate as something of importance to them, it is simply overlooked and ignored.

Active seeing removes such a filter from my observations and allows me to consider the visual value of anything and everything. Seeing dissuades me from looking at the world so literally where a chair is simply a chair, a table is just a table, a flower is just another flower. Seeing reveals these same elements for how they interact with light and shadow, line and shape, color and gesture. Their visual weight moves beyond their function to how they are revealed within the viewfinder of my camera. I can juxtapose those elements that normally have no relationship to each other in the real world, but that within the context of the frame are forever connected.

This kind of seeing does not come easy. It is not developed by shooting every couple of weeks or only when I am on vacation. It is a skill that has to be nurtured and refined on a daily basis. It is like the muscles of a bodybuilder that has to be stressed and worked with consistency and regularity. If it isn’t it turns to its normal state and loses its power and strength. It becomes as ordinary as everyone else’s.

When I was a young photographer and frustrated by my lack of growth, I only had to look at the infrequency of my practice of photography and hence my seeing. Three or four times a month for a couple of hours may be fun, but it did not result in me achieving much more than the occasional pleasing shot.

It was when I began to always carry a camera with me and carefully observe and see the world around me. It happened when I was willing to embrace even the more ordinary and mundane scenes and moments around me and allowed myself to appreciate the potential that they offered.

Soon the pleasure of seeing became a permanent fixture of my life, whether or not I chose to make a photograph. Once turned on, it was a way of experiencing moments and things that I could not turn off even if I wanted to. Most importantly, it made the moments I photographed as seamless a part of my normal way of actively seeing.

I was seeing, with or without a camera. I was discovering what everyone else was completely oblivious to. It was in front of many, but I was the only one seeing it and the camera provided me the means by which I could capture it and show everyone else what they were and are missing.

Nico Therin is a Los Angeles based French photographer. For as long as he can remember, he has been attracted to form and color, but it wasn’t until he moved from France to the United States to follow his exchange student high school sweetheart that he entertained the idea of studying photography.

Meryl Meisler frequented and photographed the infamous New York Discos. As a 1978 CETA Artist grant recipient, Meryl created a portfolio of photographs which explored her Jewish Identity for the American Jewish Congress. After CETA, Meryl began a 31-year career as an NYC Public School Art Teacher.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses how and why he chooses to create a vertical rather than a horizontal composition. He explains how choosing to go vertical can eliminate distracting elements from the composition while at the same time emphasizing the presence of repeating lines and shapes.

Mark Thiessen has been a photographer with National Geographic since 1990 and on staff since 1997.

He is widely published in all areas of the National Geographic Society, including National Geographic magazine, National Geographic Adventure magazine, and National Geographic Traveler magazine. National Geographic books that feature Thiessen's work include Return to Midway, which documents the discovery of the U.S.S. Yorktown, and Baseball as America, a look at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses how he attempted to create layered compositions while documenting a recent Black History Parade. He shows both successful and less successful images to explain how he observed and photographed each scene.

Michael A. McCoy is a Washington D.C. based freelance photojournalist and a two-time combat veteran. In his work as a photographer, he sees himself as a visual storyteller. He is devoted to his documentary and environmental portraiture work which includes his personal project Invisible Wounds which explores the lingering impact of PTSD on veterans.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses the importance of seeing the little things, those little details that can really transform a photograph. It can be something as simple as a gesture or the juxtaposition of different elements within the frame, but when carefully seen can ensure that you come away with a strong image.

Stella Johnson is a photographer and educator known for her passionate and honest documentary projects. She received a Core Fulbright Scholar Grant to photograph in Mexico in 2003, and Fulbright Senior Specialist grants to teach in Mexico in 2006 and in Colombia in 2018. The University of Maine Press published her monograph, Al Sol: Photographs from Mexico, Cameroon and Nicaragua in 2008. Johnson’s photographs have been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses how to identify and photograph street scenes at night. He emphasizes the importance of considering the same elements of light and shadow, line and shape, color and gesture when searching for interesting subject matter.

In this unusual episode, photojournalist and documentary photographer Jamie Rose conducts an exhaustive interview with TCF host, Ibarionex Perello about his life, including his career as a photographer, writer, and podcaster. It even includes a temporary sidetrack as a stand-up comic. The conversation examines some of the challenges he has faced professionally and personally, including a recent diagnosis of ADHD.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses what to look for to create richer and interesting compositions. He explains how the repetition of color, lines, and shapes help to compliment the main elements within any photographic composition.

Valerie Jardin is a popular street and travel photographer, educator and host of the Hit the Street podcast. After leaving a successful career as a professional commercial photographer, she dedicated herself to her personal photography and conducting photo experiences both in the United States and Europe.

She has recently turned her lens to more personal projects including a series of environmental portraits of artists that live and work in her community.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses how to use the diagonal lines of a scene and your subjects for better compositions. He was spurred to discuss the subject after someone asked him how to build an interesting composition when you don’t have the benefit of dramatic lighting.

Jens Krauer is a street photographer, educator and podcaster based in Switzerland. In a relatively short time, he has become a talented photographer and brings a thoughtful philosophy to the practice of making images. As the host of the FujiLove podcast, he frequently interviews photographers not only about their use of Fuji cameras, but also their varied approaches to making photographs.

In this week's video, Ibarionex discusses how to challenge your photographic eye when documenting your own living space. He suggests that you consider using your own environment for a potential subject matter, providing you ready access with which to practice your photographic skills.

David Burnett is a photojournalist with more than 5 decades of work covering the news, the people, and visual tempo of our age. He is co-founder of Contact Press Images, the New York based photojournalism agency.

In this week's video, Ibarionex and Olaf Sztaba discusses the compositional choices in several images Though the conversation began with no particular agenda in mind, it clearly became evident that there was a common motif that linked all these images. That was related to how the photographers carefully composed their compositions by paying attention not only to a subject, but also the setting/scene where they were photographing.

Louie Palu is an award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work has appeared in festivals, publications, exhibitions, and collections internationally. He is the recipient of numerous awards including two Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Grants, 2011-12 Bernard L Schwartz Fellowship with the New America Foundation and Milton Rogovin Fellowship at the University of Arizona. He is well known for his work which examines social-political issues such as human rights, conflict, and poverty.